It says everything about Diogo Jota’s love for football that while others spent the 2020 coronavirus lockdown watching box sets or adopting unusual hobbies, he was leading Telford United to the Champions League title on the Football Manager computer game.
Under their Portuguese coach, Telford – who had never played in the Football League before Jota took over – stormed through the divisions of English football, establishing themselves in the Premier League and becoming a major European force.
Jota was at Wolves at the time and his choice of Telford gave another a clue to his character. This was no footballing mercenary merely passing through, but a man who took a close interest in his surroundings.
Telford is 20 miles from Wolverhampton, the city Jota called home for three years until his £41million move to Liverpool in September 2020.
‘I use a good part of my free time to be involved in football, even through esports,’ he said at the time.
‘He’s how players should be when they join us,’ said former Liverpool boss Klopp that autumn.
Diogo Jota endeared himself to English football fans with his performances while at Wolves
He played a starring role in helping to transform Wolves into a Premier League force, with the help of team-mates and close friends such as Raul Jimenez (back, middle), Joao Moutinho (front, centre) and Ruben Neves (bottom right)
‘He’s at the best age, 23, already experienced and played a lot of Premier League football.
‘He’s made his way up in Portugal. He is a really open, his English is brilliant and he was ready to step into the team and the squad.’
Nobody at Wolves was surprised by Klopp’s words.
When Jota moved to England with Rute Cardoso, who he married only last month, in summer 2017, they chose an apartment that was less than five minutes’ walk from Wolves training ground at Compton, on the outskirts of the city.
At that time, Jota was only on loan from Atletico Madrid and might have been tempted by a property in the upmarket footballer belt that includes Sutton Coldfield and Solihull. Moving to a place two miles from the centre of Wolverhampton sent all the right signals to his club.
Many of the Wolves players at that time, particularly the Portuguese ones, also lived near Compton and would meet most evenings at midfielder Ruben Neves’ apartment. Neves is said to be an excellent cook and would prepare dinner while his team-mates played pool or computer games.
Jota was one of the players who opted to remain in England during that first lockdown and as soon as it was permitted, he went straight to the training ground to follow an individual fitness regime to ensure he was at his sharpest when football resumed.
Although confident and ultra-competitive, Jota was known as an understated character. He had a serious manner and little interest in the ostentatious cars and clothes that some top footballers choose to spend their wages on.
Working under Nuno Espirito Santo (left), Jota’s talent was on full display with Wolves
He scored crucial goals both domestically and in Europe, such as against Besiktas (pictured)
He landed a mage move to Liverpool and he continued to defy expectations over at Anfield
Jota and Cardoso moved immediately to the north-west after his move to Liverpool was confirmed.
In the football world, connections will naturally change and drift over time. In those first couple of years, though, Jota kept in regular contact with players and staff at Wolves and was invited back for family birthdays and occasions within the Compton Portuguese enclave.
Jota was an avid player of PC game Football Manager and took charge of Telford FC
With player and club such a perfect match, it was a surprise to some when Jota was sold.
But at the time, the move suited both parties: Jota indicated to Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo after the Europa League defeat by Sevilla in summer 2020 – when he was used only as a late substitute in the club’s most important match of the season – that he was ready for a new challenge; Nuno was happy to let Jota go to make more space in the first team for two other Portuguese signings, Pedro Neto and Daniel Podence. Jota earned Wolves a significant profit, too, as the fee from Atletico was about £12m.
There was pride, but some surprise at first, in Portugal at how well Jota performed in England.
Before he moved here, he was regarded as a promising talent, but not an exceptional one. Certainly not the sort of player who would score Champions League hat-tricks or start matches for the national team.
That he did so is testament to Jota’s talent and attitude.
Though a client of super-agent Jorge Mendes, Jota was never one of the golden children like Cristiano Ronaldo or, in later years, Joao Felix.
Wolves’ fans will give Jota the send-off he deserves when they play at Molineux on August 16
The Portugal international and Cardoso first got together in 2012, when they were teenagers
They have three children, pictured on the Anfield pitch in May after winning the Premier League
He began at Pacos Ferreira, a small club near Porto, and though he moved to Atletico in 2016 after two impressive seasons, Jota never broke through in Madrid.
The key moments were his loan spells at Porto and Wolves. After helping Wolves to promotion in 2018, Jota signed permanently and ensured they became a force in the Premier League, too.
Ronaldo sets the standard for all Portuguese players but for the current generation, particularly the Under-17 squad who won the European Championship this summer, Jota is a fabulous role model. And on August 16, when Wolves face Manchester City in their first game of the season, Molineux will pay Jota the tribute he deserves.
